# Reserve du Patron/Semois from Belgian Ardennes



## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

Wow. The 100g compressed block of Belgium's finest cut shag arrived wrapped in gold foil paper, ribbon-tied. It had a smell like no other tobacco; it didn't seem like it would go well for me at first glance. The smell was weird, the color was weird - dark, almost to gray. Not pretty. It smelled weird and wasn't pretty. What would you expect? The shit scared me to death.

Easy fill and an easy light; doesn't call for relights. Even with plenty of moisture this springy fine cut tobacco wants to burn quickly if you don't uber-compress it and sip. Taste? It tastes great if you like, say, perique +5. Until I learned that there is one small area in Belgium where tobacco has been grown for over 100-years I guessed this leaf was from Africa or Asia or St. James Parish, Louisiana.

Semois river tobacco from the Ardennes region of Belgium is unique and, to my palate, very enjoyable. Spice-like with a serious nic-kick I smoked this happily from a smallish group-2 briar. Not too hot and not too much.


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## RJpuffs (Jan 27, 2008)

That looks like great stuff! Belgian perique, what next. Parisian Burley?


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## commonsenseman (Apr 18, 2008)

Sounds delicious! Isn't that a 250g block though?


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

commonsenseman said:


> Sounds delicious! Isn't that a 250g block though?


T'is commonsenseman but it's neither my photo nor my RduP.

My (100g of) Reserve du Patron is repacked in an old Reiner LGF tin with it's label wrapped round, secured with a ribbon. As such it no longer makes for a great photo op.

EDIT: here is the stuff, remoisturized and repackaged in the LGF tin.


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## Zeabed (Apr 23, 2009)

Pour la couronne de la Sainte Vierge, mon vieux! But you have put de semois du Val Ardennais dans le receptacle allemand de Reiner. Drolle de sacrilege!


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## lestrout (Dec 10, 2007)

I had a pouch of Semois, but since I'm not into burleys, it didn't quite ring my bell. To ferret out the contours of the flavor profile, I did try it in a several briars with different chamber geometries (inc. Dublin, stack and pot), and also different substrates (meer, morta, olivewood).

Now that I've been learning VAs, maybe I'll be armed to try on some more Semois some year.

hp
les


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

So Moo, where the heck are we supposed to find this stuff? My language skills beyond English, Spanish, Pig Latin, etc. aren't up to snuff, but I can't even seem to find this on Google.be.

Edit - apparently it's not even possible to get you tease! 

http://www.mombu.com/cigars/pipes-and-pipes-tobacco/t-semois-tobacco-3954413.html


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

Jack Straw said:


> So Moo, where the heck are we supposed to find this stuff? l


I have a few pounds in the basement; you just have to ask, palsie-walsie. Or speak to Vincent Manil:

Tabac Semois - Produits


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